San Elijo Hills launches no-Wal-Mart drive

SAN MARCOS -- More than 200 San Elijo Hills residents metSaturday morning to fire up a campaign for a ballot referendumblocking the development of a Wal-Mart, a counter move to anapproval of the project by the San Marcos City Council two weeksago.

“We are here today to plan an attack on this unwanted, big-boxdevelopment,” said resident and organizer Lori Drake. “We wantpeople to commit to getting signatures for the referendum.”

People came to the 9 a.m. meeting in gym clothes and flip-flops,pushing strollers, carrying coffee and towing dogs. But, casualappearance aside, determination marked their faces.

The store is planned for a 19.6-acre site in the UniversityCommons development near the Carlsbad border at Rancho Santa FeRoad and Melrose Drive.

Advertisement

Wal-Mart will not open until road improvements within thedevelopment are completed and Rancho Santa Fe Road is widened tofour lanes. The $13.5 million project to widen the road from two tofour lanes between Island and Melrose drives is expected to befinished next spring.

But residents say they are concerned about traffic, noise andcrime.

“Wal-Mart would be 570 feet from the nearest house,” said TiaGirard. “How would you like to have Wal-Mart traffic right by whereyour children are?”

At an Aug. 12 meeting that went late into the night, the CityCouncil approved the second version of plans to build the city’ssecond Wal-Mart, located in south San Marcos. Despite vigorousopposition from a group called Citizens for Responsible Growth inSan Elijo Hills, the council voted to approve the development.

Advertisement

“We are going to unwrite that law,” said Bob Glaser, a politicalconsultant at the meeting. “We’re going to unwrite it so there isno Wal-Mart.”

In order to get the question of whether development shouldproceed on the March ballot, the group needs a minimum of about2,700 signatures, Glaser said. They have to gather them by Sept.11, 30 days from when the council voted. And they want to do itwithout paying the $3 per signature that professionalpetition-mongers do.

“We hope to get 4,400 signatures so we have a good margin oferror,” said Lori Drake. “We don’t have the $14,000 to do itprofessionally.”

There are just more than 900 residences in the San Elijo Hillsdevelopment now, although it is slated to grow quickly. Soresidents will have to go outside the neighborhood to gathersignatures. They said they hope that they will win the support ofother San Marcos residents.

Advertisement

“This issue is really about the City Council not doing its joband representing the people they’re supposed to represent,” Drakesaid. “We hope people recognize that this is part of a biggerproblem, where our representatives aren’t being fair and honestwith us, the people who put them there.”